Tribal Football

Arsenal boss Arteta pleased with 'team effort' for victory over Forest

Paul Vegas
Arsenal boss Arteta pleased with 'team effort' for victory over Forest
Arsenal boss Arteta pleased with 'team effort' for victory over ForestAction Plus
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was left pleased with their 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest.

A Bukayo Saka screamer was followed by late goals from Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri for the win.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Arteta said afterwards, "Really happy, I sensed great energy the last 48 hours, the way everybody came back. I sensed a great togetherness and decided to change the situation and go through what has been a different period for us with all the situations that we have come across and the team. Straight away, from the beginning it was dominant, there was an enthusiasm about it. This is what I demand when we score a goal, it should have been another two or three in the first half.

"Then the fact it was a total effort of the team because other players have to come in. I had to take Jorgi out because of the yellow card, Thomas   comes in, impacts the team, scores a goal. Raheem (Sterling) comes in, he makes an assist, Ethan comes in, he scores a goal. That gives us a different kind of dominance, Jakub comes in to get some minutes in the legs. You don’t play Thomas, you don’t play Declan (Rice), you don’t play (Gabriel) Martinelli, you don’t play Kai Havertz, and there’s always that question mark, is it right or wrong? I felt it because I think the team needed it, that they all feel important and all have a real chance. Some of the players, the way they trained while we were here, was unbelievable and I have to praise that.

On Martin Odegaard’s return he also said, "For these kind of players in the team, it’s always the right time. Again, we talk about fluidity and understanding chemistry and timing, he’s one of the best to do that, to manage the tempo of the game, when to accelerate it, when to slow it down. Obviously he’s been missed and it’s good that we had to sub him because he was starting to get tired and fading a little bit.

"Ethan comes in and he lifts, you could sense the crowd, the energy and how much they love watching this kid play, which is great."